Marilyn Monroe Happy Birthday Dress

 The dress Marilyn Monroe wore to wish President Kennedy happy birthday. here's what Christies Auction Catalog says,

A full length evening sheath dress of flesh colored souffle gauze encrusted with graduated rhinestones embroidered in a rosette motif. Worn by Marilyn Monroe at the famous birthday tribute to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden where she sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President" on May 19, 1962. The dress sold for $1,150,000.

        Now i don't know anyone who has that kind of cash to spend on a dress, so my version is quite a bit simpler and more affordable. I started with a light flesh colored spandex and a white mesh with silver sequins already attached. The most time consuming part of this dress is attaching all those rhinestones, so finding a fabric that already has the sparkle saves a lot of time. I draped the bodice lining, using a cream lingerie mesh, and the bra cups i would be using and attached boning to the lining just in the front to help support the bust line. Marilyn's dress was much lighter weight fabric that was matched to her skin tone and meant to show off every curve. Some people say that you could see through her dress. For my version i went with something that is not see through and has a bit more structure, the bra is built in so there is no worry about the back being low or having visible elastic lines from your under garments.

I then drafted the pattern using the lining as a starting point. The shape is very simple, fitted to the knee with a slight fishtail in the back for walking. Marilyn was apparently sewn into the dress but since i cant be there to sew my customer in, i went with a standard zipper ( invisible zippers are not as strong and tend to get stuck in tight dresses) I love how it came out, the spandex keeps a firm smooth hold on the figure and allows you to move around with out worrying about stressing the seams. This dress can be custom made over at my Etsy shop Morningstar84
other fabric options are available, and in different shade to match your skin tone. I do offer a more accurate version of this dress please message me for a quote if you are interested.